How old do you need to be to play/buy TS2

[ladymiriam]

This is just a quick question and maybe a bit daft but it's been bugging me for a while and it's come to my attention again looking at the mods request forum and someone wanted the woo hoo option removed from their game to make it child friendly.  I keep reading that the Sims is T or r13 or something.  I'm in the Uk and my game says you need to be 7 to play the Sims, is that just here?  Now that I think about it, maybe some of the EPs here are meant for 12s and above but the base game does say 7+, I've just checked.  I actually do think the game is suitable for 7 years olds, woo hoo or not, but that's an aside.  So is it just here in the UK where we can have kiddie simmers?

[Theraven]

basegame is 7+, the rest are 12+ (or 13+, R13, T, or similar)
weird...  

Maybe they reconsidered the age restriction after giving out the basegame?

I really think 7 is too young for TS2. 12 or 13 might still be a bit on the line, concidering the game themes... Though, parents should really watch out which games their kids play, and what they download to the games...  

[ladymiriam]

Yes, that is odd.  I can't think of any reason why the EPs should have an older rating than the base game.  I wonder if newer versions of the base game have older ratings.

[caffeinated.joy]

Keep in mind, too, it's a recommendation, not an absolute law

[ladymiriam]

I thought shops had to abide by the ratings when selling games. I know my 12 year old son cannot buy games in shops around here that are rated 15.

[Paden]

Thing is, those are recommendations, not laws. The one that decides how old a kid should be to play certain games is YOU, as their parent. If you don't want your kid playing something that you think has a theme that is too mature for them to understand, then no, they should not play it and it should not be allowed in your house. That's how I've always been, rating on the box or no. If I don't want it played in my house, it doesn't come through my door. I'm a hard-nosed old bat, don'tchaknow??

[Stelio Kontos]

I thought shops had to abide by the ratings when selling games. I know my 12 year old son cannot buy games in shops around here that are rated 15.

Technically, shops should enforce those rules, but generally, they're only enforced when it comes to Mature (or your country's equivalent to it) rated games.

[scarletlady]

I know that all games shops i've ever been to [Game & Games Workshop] enforce the ages on the games from when I was younger, but I wouldn't let any child of mine under the age of 14 play it.

[ladymiriam]

Agreed Paden-Mum is the law.

I'm feeling a bit of a bad mum though, if the concensus is that 7 is too young, but I do feel the game is pretty tame.  Many of the more adult features are things that children deal with anyway through play and stuff.  When we were kids we had a game called "Dead Mans Fall", where a person acted as the executioner and the row of people in front of them got to choose their method of death.  We all acted our very dramatic final moments and the best one got to be the executioner in the next round.  It was best played at the swimming pool, as I recall.  We all played mums and dads, didn't we?  By the time I was 7, I knew sex made babies, even if I had no idea of the mechanics of it all.  My eldest son, now 12, thinks TS2 is boring now but for a while he really liked it.  I did not allow him to download stuff himself, instead I used to find stuff he might like and get it for him-this was during his Harry Potter phase, now he's all grunting and WOW.

[caffeinated.joy]

ladydmiriam, it's completely up to you to decide if you want your children to play this. You'll know better than anyone else whether or not your children can handle the content in the game. In my opinion the game is pretty tame too and agree many of the more "adult" things in the game aren't anything they won't deal with in day to day life. Use your judgement and, if you feel comfortable with letting them play, then let them play.

[ladymiriam]

Phew, I'm glad I'm not on my own then.  You're right, we all know our own kids best.